


The Trees Know Your Secrets

by ViolentFlowers



Category: Uprooted - Naomi Novik
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Future Fic, Kasia POV, Misses Clause Challenge, Post-Canon, Talking Trees, Yuletide 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-04-30 14:29:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5167280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolentFlowers/pseuds/ViolentFlowers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was her homecoming, talking trees, screaming grass, bushes telling her things—really personal things. The forest was talking all around Kasia and no one else seemed to notice anything wrong at all. Was she losing her mind, was this some new attack by the Wood, or was it something else all together?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Trees Know Your Secrets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zvi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zvi/gifts).



> Thanks so much to my lovely beta readers: Sixth_light and Sigaloenta. Who helped whip this story into shape. You were both amazing! Any and all remaining mistakes are my own, please feel free to point them out and I will fix them.

The forest was talking. This was a new and unsettling development.

Kasia could hear the soft murmuring gossip of the trees all around her, as if dozens of people were pressed up against her, all talking at once. The voices enquired about everything and anything, carrying down to her from the canopy as she rode by. 

When she’d first noticed the forest talking she’d been amazed. They had just passed the Dragon’s now rebuilt tower (Nieshka had mention that it had been repaired and that it had stood empty, much to her displeasure, but not much more then that), when the conversations suddenly started. First it was just whispers that she mistook for the people around her but she quickly realized it was the forest as the voices became loud enough to hear clearly as they got closer and closer to Kasia’s home town. 

Even when her troop finally passed out of the large grove of alders they been traveling through for miles, the voices didn’t stop. It seemed that every plant around her had something to say. The grass liked to scream when tread upon, which was disconcerting the first few times, doubly so when it then giggled after the horses walked past. So, a screaming, giggling chorus announced their advance, which went a long way to convincing Kasia that she had to be the only person affected, as no one else, not even Solya, mentioned it.

The ivy that covered the ground and climbed up the trees made puns about everything, yelling them loudly at anything that passed their way. The bushes that Kasia had never noticed before but would now recognize on sight grumbled constantly about animals, detailing both exactly where they defecated (which was everywhere) and exactly how, which involved some very evocative imagery that she would never forget. 

Sometimes when the wind blew really hard, the trees abruptly started singing. Catchy songs about storms and the joy of being covered in pollen. 

The forest was alive with conversations. Mostly whispered ones, to be sure, but she could still hear so much more then she wanted to. Kasia didn’t think anyone needed to hear that much about the mating habits of skunks, and she was glad that it was of interest only to a lone oak tree, which they were resting under as they ate lunch. 

When Kasia had finally had enough and walked away from the rest of the troop (she was certain that she’d never look at a skunk the same way again and did not need hear the rest of the tree’s unending soliloquy) Solya ambushed her.

“Worried about your homecoming?” He asked, stepping out from behind a tree dramatically. She blinked at him as he struck a not so casual pose against a spruce tree. She didn’t answer, unsure what he meant, which let Solya to continue unimpeded (never a good idea). “You seem more and more upset the closer we get. I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. After all, look at the company you keep. You’ve done well for yourself.”

Was he trying to be comforting? The spruce he leaned on droned loudly about the benefits of mushrooms and the feeling of them sprouting from its bark in the early morning.

“After all, it’s not every day that one can say they’ve turned down a wizard’s attention to climb the political ladder as fast as you have. Look at you, captain of the guard; surely that will fill them with pride.”

“They’ve always been proud that I’ve avoided wizardly attention,” she said and walked away to tend to the horses. Kasia would have been more concerned that Solya had noticed something was off with her, if he wasn’t always so good at coming up with his own reasons that had little to do with reality. Normal reality, at least: this seemed far outside of normal. Still, if wizards couldn’t hear this, could it be the Wood?

She’d have given that thought more weight but it didn’t seem like the Wood’s method of attack. The pine tree the horses were tied under had begun a very drawn out tale about a pair of waxwings defending their nest from an (attractively) red fox (whose color the tree intensely liked and described at length in extremely sensual terms) before the rest of their group finished eating and they set back onto the road to Dvernik. 

The talking was starting to wear on her. 

She would ask Nieshka once they were at the village. She actually missed the quiet noises of the forest and wanted this to stop. Was this a side effect of defeating the Wood-queen? Or some new power Kasia didn’t know she had? It was possible: she was part tree, after all. And really, how many puns for leaves did she need to know? It wood be a releaf to stop hearing them.

When they made it to Dvernik they ran into Nieshka’s mother in the town square, which was a piece of good luck, since she wasn’t wasn’t sure where in town Nieshka lived. And yet it was all a little too convenient: the other villagers had engaged her troop so completely that she’d found herself standing in the village-green alone with Nieshka’s mother, who gave her a basket of food, a bottle of wine, directions to Nieshka’s house, and a suggestion that she and Nieshka should catch up. No need to come back tonight, the big feast would be held tomorrow.

Kasia quickly passed her responsibilities to her second in command on the grounds that she had important business that only Nieshka could help her with. Of course, it wasn’t that important; she just really wanted to know if she was losing her mind. (Nothing to be concerned about. She was just hearing voices and now she was well versed on the sex life of plants.)

Kasia told Solya that she was going to Nieshka’s mother’s house to catch up so that he wouldn’t try to follow her. Or so that he’d brazenly go knock on their door and get to talk to Nieshka’s brothers. They didn’t like wizards very much.

What was that? Kasia stopped in the middle of the road, tilting her head. Something smelled good, no, it wasn’t a smell. Whatever it was, it was like an itch under her skin. She set out again, shaking herself like a dog, which did nothing to stop the strange feeling. It felt like anticipation.

She would have been concerned, if the forest hadn’t been a constant source of chatter all around her. She could only deal with one thing at a time and it was not a quiet trip. She didn’t know what was worse: that most of the conversations from the plants were now related to some sort of deeply erotic desire (which for trees seemed to be based on color and for grass turned out to be all about vibrations) or that she had started to taste whatever seemed to smell so good. It was a spicy, sour, sweet, bitter taste, and she kept licking her lips trying to figure out what exactly it recalled, but just wasn’t able to pin it down. 

She also started walking as lightly as she could and mostly on dirt for the rest of the journey, glad that her clothing was of one color and brown.

As she turned a corner she realized that her fingers were tingling and that she couldn’t stop rubbing them against her skin. Had she always been so soft? Like satin over hard wood? The soft bottom part of a chestnut, maybe. Kasia frowned. So something was clearly wrong and she knew it, but she wasn’t worried. It didn’t feel bad. It felt like excitement, like the long wait before the Midwinter fest. 

When Nieshka’s house came it to view Kasia realized that what she’d been feeling had to be magic. Nieshka’s magic, in fact. Her house was a quaint little cottage that was actually an old oak tree, and Kasia could feel it pulse with magic as if it had a heart beat all its own. Colors were noticeably brighter, the air smelled cleaner, and she felt drawn to it as if there was something tugging her in. Calling to her. 

On all sides the plants and trees were lush and vibrant, blooming out of season while at the same time heavy with fruit. Everything felt happy to see her; some of the plants even greeted Kasia by name. 

Kasia blinked and found herself right at the door of the oak tree house. It told her that it loved her and ached for her touch. The house made a happy noise as she was reaching out to knock, but the door swung inward before her hand even touched the wood. The house whined in disappointment. Nieshka was there, out of breath, smiling at her, and completely unaware that she was wooing Kasia with her magic. 

“Kasia! I thought you’d be here yesterday — did something happen on the road?” Nieshka looked around her as if expecting someone else to be there. The herb garden chastised Kasia for keeping them all waiting. “Is everyone back at the village-green? Don’t tell me you left them there to fend for themselves.” There was a chorus of praise from the forest to say that coming alone had been the right idea.

“I’m sure Solya will manage not to get thrown out of town on the first day. I make no promises about tomorrow,” Kasia said, taking in the changes in her friend. Nieshka was wearing comfortable breeches with stains on the knees. Kasia knew she’d been out in the Woods; she could feel the slight hint of corruption on Nieshka. It barely touched her but it was there, like the smell of manure after you’ve spent time in a garden with your hands in the soil. She also felt settled, comfortable in her skin like she truly belonged. Nieshka’s hair was hanging loose in thick mahogany locks as if it had just been undone from her braids. That old desire to run her hands through Neishka’s hair flared up, making her hands twitch. Kasia had always enjoyed brushing and braiding Nieshka’s hair on days when it would get tangled up from playing in the forest. 

The suggestions from the forest were getting much more explicit but Nieshka didn’t react at all. Nieshka, like Solya, seemed to have no idea that the forest was talking or that her magic was leaking as far out as the Tower. Now that she was at the source Kasia could actually feel Nieshka’s magic like a caress, thick and heavy. Had it always been like this and Kasia had never realized? Or was this because Kasia was now like the Wood itself?

Nieshka’s magic hadn’t felt like this after Kasia had been purged of the Wood’s corruption, when she had still been getting used to a body of wood. But they’d been in Sarkan’s domain then — maybe Nieshka’s magic was more potent with the two wizards apart?

Kasia smiled at Nieshka, not regretting at all that she’d come here first. Kasia was actually thankful she’d found out about this before she was at the Midwinter fest surrounded by their friends and family. Was Nieshka even aware of what she was doing? She really needed to say something because Nieshka was starting to look worried.

“Kasia? Is there something wrong?” 

“The forest is talking to me, telling me embarrassing things.” 

Nieshka’s mouth dropped open, “What- really? When did that start? Was it after the Wood-queen was defeated? Why didn’t you say anything in your letters?” She walked out of her house, scanning the trees as if looking for monsters before crouching down and putting one of her hands into the dirt. The garden cheered in joy to see her.

“No, it started today. Right—” 

Kasia shuddered, feeling a wave of magic surge out of Nieshka. It went searching along the ground but stopped at Kasia’s feet and she had the surreal experience of magic behaving like a dog; it walked around her, jumped up to lick her face, pawed at her body, and it actually whined when it was finally forced to continued its search. 

“—after we passed Sarkan’s Tower on the way here. Nothing was talking to me before then.” 

Nieshka wasn’t looking at her, but her back was stiff, as if she might have noticed the way her magic had just drawn a circle around Kasia and tried to hump her leg. 

Nieshka clear her throat, not looking at Kasia, “I hadn’t noticed anything recently that would cause that — unless maybe it’s the wood-people?” 

“No, it’s not just the trees. Every plant seems to have something to say, and the grass screams when you walk on it,” Kasia said, reaching out to touch Nieshka’s shoulder, needing to feel that she was real. They both gasped at the contact. Kasia pulled her hand back as Nieshka sprang to her feet, but it didn’t hurt. The tingle of magic that thrummed down her fingers felt joyful. 

If only Nieshka would meet her eyes, but she was looking away, biting her lip as if she was worried. Or maybe it wasn’t worry; her face was hot and flushed. The bushes whispered a suggestion that Kasia ignored. 

“I’m pretty sure you’re the center of it, because it’s much stronger here,” Kasia said, pulling Nieshka into a hug, the thrum of magic like a pulse between them, warm and welcoming now that she was prepared for it. Nieshka held herself tense for a heartbeat or two but slumped into Kasia’s embrace, turning to bury her face into Kasia’s shoulder, holding her tightly. Kasia had missed her so much. Long days had stretched forever and she’d been thinking about returning almost as soon as she’d left. Would have, too, if not for the forces pulling them apart and the promises she’d made. 

“It’s like you’re leaking magic,” Kasia said into Nieshka’s hair. She wasn’t sure whether that was possible but the air was thick with her friend’s magic. She didn’t mention that Nieshka smelled amazing and that she wanted to kiss her. Maybe then she would finally be able to place that taste in her mouth.

“What? That’s not possible… someone would have said something.” Nieshka broke their embrace, pulling back a little to finally look Kasia in the eyes, and she scrunched up her face. Kasia smiled at that: it was one of her favorite Nieshka faces. Then Nieshka went blank as if she was looking inside or around herself to test the validity of Kasia’s statement. Kasia hoped that there was an explanation, because this was no minor phenomenon. Magic was saturating the ground and making Kasia’s fingers tingle. It settled on her like a fine misting of fog, but felt like a comfortable sweater. And as a result somehow, the plants were now talking. (The suggestions the forest was giving now could not be followed, as neither she nor Nieshka was that flexible). 

Kasia felt that she fit here, that she was the last piece to a puzzle, that now that she was here, everything was perfect. (The oak told her in a hushed whisper that there were six cups of tea on the table staining the wood, a hint to just how long Nieshka had been waiting for her to show up.) But she needed to pay attention. Nieshka was looking at her strangely. “Did Marisha braid flowers into your hair? They’re amazing, I’ve never seen any like that before.” 

Flowers? But Nieshka reached up, and touched Kasia’s hair. Kasia’s whole body shivered as magic poured into her from that touch and she felt a part of herself burst with joy under Nieshka’s hands. 

“Oh,” Nieshka said in surprise, eyes round, “It’s… you. You’re blooming.”

“Of course,” Kasia admitted, feeling her face heat up. “I love you,” She’d said it before but maybe not clearly enough that Nieshka could tell how she meant it. She pulled Nieshka’s hand down and away from the flowers in her hair to kiss the middle of her palm. The skin was soft on her lips, magic joyfully leaping between them like lighting and making them both shiver. 

“Oh,” Nieshka said again, but this time it had a reverent quality. She sighed as she fell forward into Kasia’s arms and ran her hand up Kasia’s cheek, searching her face, looking at her hopefully. Nodding back at her, Kasia hoped that she would understand, because she didn’t have words for how much she wanted Nieshka. Who pulled Kasia into a soft kiss. Finally Kasia could place the taste, like apple bloom cider and summer dew, the flavor bursting on her tongue. She opened her mouth, tilting her head and deepening the kiss. She tightened her arms carefully, holding them close together. She felt Nieshka sigh against her lips as they explored what both of them had missed, like a part of them had been torn away and now they were complete again.

Kasia lost track of time in that kiss. Empires could have risen and fallen and she would have paid them no mind. Solya could have popped out from behind a tree and — no, she’d probably have stabbed him.

The cheering from the forest finally broke the moment, and when Kasia pulled back slightly Nieshka looked a bit dazed. Kasia raised a hand to touch Nieshka’s hair and paused, feeling the basket shift on her arm. Right; she’d brought food. “You should invite me in,” Kasia said, still holding Nieshka close, brushing their lips together but not really kissing her. She smelled amazing.

Nieshka turned an interesting shade of red, and it was no wonder. The trees were wolf whistling, the grass was cheering, the garden had moved on to suggestions of a personal nature. It was only when she was being pulled along by their clasped hands towards the house that she remembered Nieshka couldn’t hear the forest at all. But there was a bed in the house and no one expecting them.

There was a general uptick of happy murmurs and cheers before the door swung closed and the forest realized that they were going to be shut out of the action. She heard a wail rise from the foliage. 

“Much better,” Kasia said, leaning back against the door, “relatively quieter. Now that the entire forest isn’t watching and commenting, and suggesting things-” so many things, and she wasn’t even sure either of them had a stamen (or what a stamen was, in fact). “What’s a stamen?”

“What?” Nieshka looked confused.

“Nothing, not important. Just plant stuff, I’m sure.” Kasia leaned in and Nieshka seemed to be pulled in as well, like magnets, until Nieshka blinked and put a hand out to halt their motion. Her hand rested on Kasia’s chest and tingled against her skin, much too high up for her tastes. Nieshka looked her in the eye and bit her lip, looking worried and serious, “Am I- am I making you do this? With my magic?”

Kasia shook her head, confused. Where was this coming from? “No, why would you think that?”

Nieshka cupped Kasia’s face in her hands, eyes searching her expression. “You said you can feel my magic, taste it. That it calls to you. I’ve wanted this for a long time and I don’t want to— please tell me that I’m not making you do this?”

“You tasted intoxicating even before, and it’s still you,” Kasia said, confused but hopeful — Nieshka wanted this too! Nobody could make her do anything she didn’t want to do, not even the Wood-queen. But this was magic and magic could be weird, so she smiled at Nieshka. “It’s also how you’ve always smelled, how you feel to me, it’s in your voice. It’s your magic but that’s always been you. I just didn’t realized what it was because I wasn’t a tree like I am now.” 

Kasia kissed her then, just a soft brush of her lips, a promise that she meant what she was saying.

“There’s a lot of things that have changed because of this body, I’m stronger, faster, I don’t get hurt, I’m more sensitive to magic, but I’ve always wanted to be near you, Nieshka. Even when I couldn’t hear the forest telling me how lonely you’ve been, how you’ve been waiting for my letters, and all the things you do at night when you’re alone.” They had told her too much and not enough. The forest liked to watch.

“What?” Nieshka said her face turned a blotchy red color; her magic intensifying to a thrumming pulse under Kasia’s fingers. She wanted Nieshka to touch her under her clothing when she did that, but she needed to focus. Later they could explore the way her magic seemed to vibrate.

“The forest tells me that you get into your bed and writhe around calling out my name. Surely you wouldn’t secretly tell me embarrassing tales through the plant life if you could magically make me to do what you want.”

“What? How?” Nieshka sputtered. Her face hot, her eyes wide, she was looking anywhere but at Kasia’s smile. 

Kasia pointed to the window next to Nieshka’s bed. “The bushes over there like to watch you. Thankfully they also have no understanding of what you’re doing.” Nieshka darted a narrow-eyed look out the window at the bushes that until now had seemed to be benignly nestled against the house. Kasia tried not to laugh. “That doesn’t help at all, does it?”

“No,” Nieshka said, turning away from Kasia and completely pulling away from her embrace to stomp out the house. She then yelled at the plants for a while. Even with Kasia mediating between them between bouts of laughter it felt as if they were getting nowhere fast.

When they finally made it back inside, Nieshka grabbed an old rag from the edge of the table. Humming a little tune she shook it out, and it grew huge in her hands, and turned blue like the homespun cloth that Kasia’s mother used to buy at the market when she wanted to make a new dress. Nieshka snapped it over the window, and it stuck up there neatly, covering the panes completely. She turned back to Kasia with a smile. (The bushes outside grumbled in annoyance but their objections were loudly over shadowed by a tree’s admiration of the color blue.)

Kasia laughed and pulled her in close, kissing her cheek, feeling the way Nieshka’s magic wrapped around her again. Kasia closed her eyes, hiding her face against Nieshka’s hair, letting the words out. “To be honest, I’ve always known how I felt about you. That I loved you more than I should. Even knowing that I’d be picked by the Dragon didn’t stop me. I’ve always wanted to be close to you. After you left with Sarkan and the forest changed me into this, that feeling has only gotten stronger and more sure. This body might make me aware of your magic, but I’ve always wanted you.”

Nieshka’s arms tightened around Kasia and when she opened her eyes the smile that greeted her on Nieshka’s face felt like the sun, warm and comforting. 

“Me too,” Nieshka said, and then she kissed her, wild and fierce, her hands sliding up and down Kasia’s back, leaving shivering traces of magic in their wake. 

The little bed in the corner of the house turned out to be soft and comfortable, though the blanket of moss liked to hum little songs when Nieshka moaned too loudly. But Kasia didn’t care because the taste of Nieshka’s magic was so much more concentrated when she licked between her legs. She held her down as Nieshka threw her head back, body trembling and gasping, magic vibrating, as she shuddered under Kasia’s tongue. Panting, sated but still needy, Nieshka flipped them and did her own reverent exploration. 

The moss blanket ended up on the floor in the end, making little pleased noises.

\----

They had to get up at some point, if only to wash themselves off. Kasia was content to let Nieshka slowly wipe her down with a small cloth. Nieshka ended up petting her, just letting the pads of her fingers coast over Kasia’s bare skin, watching as she writhed under her hands. “I don’t know what I’m going to do when you leave me again,” Nieshka murmured to herself.

“That won’t be a problem. I’m coming back to stay,” Kasia said, catching a hand to kiss the palm, sucking on one of Nieshka’s fingers to chase the taste from when they’d been pressed inside her.

“What? I thought you were captain of Stashek’s guard?” 

Kasia released the finger to smile and then gasped when it circled one of her nipples, her back arching, silently asking for more. “Oh, I still am, but they’re setting up a special garrison out here to protect people from the Wood.” Kasia rolled her eyes. “More like spy on it. Honestly, the Wood needs protection from the capital more than the other way around.”

“You’re serious,” Nieshka said in disbelief. 

“That’s why I was late getting in. Meetings take three times as long as they say they will and they still hadn’t nailed down everything by the time we left. So I’ll have to go back for official orders, but I’m going to be here with you.” Kasia propped herself up to look down at Nieshka and stage whispered to her, “Secretly they’ve ordered me to keep an eye on you. Apparently you’re still considered dangerous and out of control. Which is more amusing when you consider that they also think the same of me.” 

Nieshka blinked up at her and said, “Really?”

Kasia nodded. The people at the capital tried, but they couldn’t hide the way they flinched from her. “They have no idea what the Wood was like or how vital you and Sarkan were to saving them all. But I’ve made my peace; they’re just too far away to understand, and anyone else they’ll send will be just as blind or worse, so it had to be me. And I wanted — I wanted it to be me.” She could pretend with the best of them, but even lying naked in Nieshka’s bed there was still a part of her that doubted. “I was hoping that there’d still a place for me here, with you.”

There was no hesitation at all. “Always.”

Kasia smiled as she rubbed herself against Nieshka, skin pressing hot and slick between them, making them both shiver. She pulled back and smirked down at Nieshka’s frustrated face. “I was ordered to watch you,” Kasia leaned in, “and I take my orders very seriously. I need to be very close to make sure you don’t do anything too…” She whispered, “…questionable.”

Nieshka laughed, “Oh, I’m not sure you’re up for the challenge.”

“They say you can speak to the trees but I’ve heard what the trees have to say and I’m not afraid,” Kasia said.

Nieshka blushed and looked away. “You told me once that you wanted to walk all over Polya, but that you’d come back to sing me songs. I think I’ve been waiting to see if that was true.” 

Kasia laughed.

“You want to hear me sing, because I can sing.”

“Of course,” Nieshka said, reaching up so she could run her fingers through Kasia’s hair, gently brushing the flowers that had bloomed and causing her to shiver. “I have no idea how to fix the forest though. I’m not even sure what I did.”

“It might be helpful, to be able to hear what the forest thinks.” Kasia leaned into the touch. (She wasn’t purring: it was more like a humming noise.) 

“Are you sure they’re thinking?” Nieshka said, and Kasia opened her eyes so she could see the smile.

“You want me to tell your faithful worshipers out there that you doubt they can think? You? Their sworn nature goddess, like a tall spry reed that they yearn to touch? You’ll break their hearts, Nieshka.” 

“They don’t even have hearts!”

Kasia waved that away. “The plants speak so highly of you. The want to cover you in nutritious soil and mud so that you’ll grow big and strong. They even talk fondly of that time one of them managed to snag just a tiny piece of your clothing.”

“I, what? Wait, is that why I’d get covered in mud as a child? And they ripped my clothing — because they liked me.” Nieshka’s mouth hung open, eyes looking at nothing, as if she was rethinking all of her childhood. 

She never could stay clean and tidy, not like the other village children.

“Clearly they have good taste, I too wanted to get you naked and dirty,” Kasia said, wiggling her eyebrows.

Nieshka made a high pitched noise of frustration while Kasia stroked a soothing hand down her arm and then pinned her back to the bed when Nieshka tried to get up and give the forest another talking-to, grumbling under her breath even as she arched into Kasia’s body.

“They love you, in their own weird way. And I’ll be hearing all about it for however long this lasts,” Kasia said trying to calm Nieshka down and not laugh.

“I’m going to fix it tomorrow,” Nieshka vowed. 

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, I was hoping to spend tomorrow with you right here,” Kasia said as she kissed the edge of Nieshka’s smile, the resulting laughter ringing through her, a glorious song she’d never grow tired of, as she was drawn back down to where she truly belonged.


End file.
